Blood Test
by BluSkyRose
Summary: A new species, Clockwork thinks with interest. Half-ghosts. Alive, but dead. Neither possible without the other...
1. Prologue

**A.N. More of a teaser than anything else, but here you go.**

**Disclaimer; I own nothing…I make no money from this…I'm really sick of disclaimers….**

**Blood Test**

**Prologue**

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

A rustle of paper. An unusual sound, foreign to these surroundings. Clockwork must be curious; he doesn't usually turn the sound on.

Tick. Tock.

"Jack, these calculations aren't right."

"Freeze."

The clock stops. The three people, college students, fall suddenly still. Clockwork frowns, and enlarges the screen.

"It is here, I'm sure of it. So where is she? If it's not his domain, it must certainly be hers…"

He examines the scene, muttering to himself in perplexity. "I'm quite certain it's here…so…no, it can't be…."

His interest has sharpened, now akin to awe, or perhaps outright fascination. "A new species, yes, but I should have realized…he can't be there, or the result would be a ghost, hardly uncommon. But she isn't there either…a new species, born without life? But then, it is not exactly a birth, is it…and they are already alive…let us see. Unfreeze."

"Bonzaii!" The biggest human in the room, a man with impressive girth and an unusual sort of innocence, shouts with all the exuberance of a small child. The woman watches, wide-eyed, as a light spins into being, growing brighter and brighter until…

A scream. The last human, a male, much slighter than the first, had been directly in front of the portal. The energy out flux hits him directly in the face.

"Freeze!" Clockwork orders sharply. He steps through into the scene, and crouches to stare carefully at the green-tinged ectoplasmic light. "Not…quite," he mutters quietly. "It has some ghostly properties, I can see that, but there's something else…" A thought strikes him, and he straightens, turning to look at the papers still in the woman's grasp. In three long strides, he is next to her, and peering down at the lines of messy handwriting interspersed with complex diagrams. He studies them, occasionally glancing up at the portal to compare.

"Yes, yes, the energy is right, if that is what they wanted…it was…but that can't be all, or he'd just end up a ghost. A very powerful ghost, but still a ghost. Unless, of course, he chose to move on, but….Death isn't here. He's never late. No, no…there must be something more."

He lifts the paper gently so as to study the one beneath it. Halfway down the page he sees it. He raises an eyebrow, surprised. "How very…unusual," he muses. He puts the paper down thoughtfully and moves to inspect the portal again.

"They summoned the right sort of energy, but this crude prototype couldn't—can't—contain it. So of course it is released, but that's not all. Hmm…this isn't my domain, but I wonder…" he reaches in delicately and extracts a single strand of DNA, which he folds carefully and slips into his pocket. "This won't tell me everything, but it may help identify the second energy called up in their little experiment." He steps back into his lair, still talking. "The reason Death wasn't needed…" he calls up a second screen, this one showing the unfortunate human male—Vlad, according to his hospital bracelet—lying alone, severely weakened and wrapped in bandages, but lucid and staring open-mouthed through his hand as it flickered in and out of invisibility, "…to give this one ghost powers."


	2. Chapter One: The Mind of Vlad Masters

**Chapter One**

**The Mind of Vlad Masters**

Maddie. Jack. _Jack._

Vlad is coasting on a blissful wave of morphine. He can't feel anything besides good, but those names almost clear his head. There's an intensity about them…no, towards them…what?

Unseen to him, a nurse refills the bag feeding his I.V. The wave crashes over him once more and he dissolves, descending into nothing.

~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline

Vlad stares with empty eyes at the doctor. He hears what the man is saying, but it makes no sense. He's not surprised his family members chose not to make the long drive down to come visit him, but he's two blocks away from the college dorms. Why…why haven't they come to see him? Maddie…Jack…didn't they care?

~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline

Vlad has done something. It is something wonderful, or perhaps terrible, he's not sure. Either way, he reasons, it doesn't matter. It was necessary.

See, Vlad is no fool. He knows about people. He's no stranger to the darker side of humanity. He would not find help from them, if they knew. No, he would become a lab rat, with no name and no rights. No one would ever know, because no one would ever look for him.

It's harsh, but it's been two months. If Jack and Maddie wanted to visit him, they would have.

And it is because of that that he has kept it secret. Not only this newest thing, but everything before it as well. No matter how insane he felt, no matter how surreal it got…the plates, the forks, the bandages, almost everything he touched passed through his grip, fell through his hand. The flickering…that moment when he looked into the mirror and saw nothing at all, every time he watched his arm disappear, all of it he kept secret.

At first, he hadn't been sure if he was hallucinating or not. But then he noticed other people noticing, just a little. He saw the doctors blink and look again, and by then he was fully visible again and they turned away to hide their confusion. When the scissors fell through his arm and the nurse said that it hadn't looked like he'd opened his hand at all. Just small moments, here and there, but it was enough to validate his growing conviction. It was really happening, and he really did have these strange new powers. Once he knew that he started practicing, teaching himself control.

And then, just the other day, quite by accident, he brushed against the doctor's arm. Their skin made contact, and in an instant he was somehow standing and facing the opposite direction. And…he felt different, more…that was when he looked down and realized he was in the doctor's body. He was controlling the doctor. At first, he wondered if he had passed out, if maybe it was an out-of-body experience. But he couldn't see himself anywhere…didn't people see their bodies in an out-of-body experience? He didn't know. But he was fairly sure that they didn't imagine themselves as other people.

He had been awkward, uncertain. What was he supposed to do next? Would the doctor know what had happened? How did he even get out…? In his restlessness, Vlad glanced down and saw the notes the doctor had been carrying. Seeing as they were about him, he didn't have any qualms about reading them.

It was an…eye-opening experience, to say the least. He learned that the doctor was fairly sure that at least some of Vlad's symptoms were psychosomatic. He found out that the hospital really didn't know what to do about him as they had no idea what was wrong and really didn't care. He discovered that they were getting ready to kick him out—sorry, _transfer him to a higher level of care._ That they apparently couldn't provide for him (and weren't willing to even suggest) though for some of the richer patients, it seemed (he kept reading, even after he was past his own information) it was no problem.

Well.

He didn't really how what to feel.

He wasn't angry, exactly, that they had no idea what was wrong. He had anticipated that when he started to withhold certain symptoms (though he had been and still was certain that even if they knew, they still wouldn't know what to do). He wasn't disappointed, not really. But…he didn't like that they weren't even willing to try anymore. There were still things they could do, though because of his insurance, they would have to do so out of their own pocket. Which they apparently didn't like. Understandable, but still quite frustrating. It was a relief, however, that they didn't suspect anything.

Mostly he supposed it was a warning. He had a better grip on his situation, now, and he could start formulating plans. He was good at that. He wanted to go back to college, though he was no longer interested in studying the ectoplasmic realm quite so openly. And it did exist. How else could he have ended up with such unmistakably ghost-related powers?

There was a question. How did he have such strange powers, though he was still alive? He didn't know. That was fine. He would find out.

How, he wasn't immediately sure. He was broke, just about. The college was not willing to help him anymore, though he was starting to crave a more sophisticated place of learning anyway so that didn't matter. He knew what he wanted; he just needed money to get it. But how…?

It was as Vlad had been pondering this that he heard voices in the hallway. His senses, though he had not yet realized it, were enhanced and he easily understood what they were saying. It was Phillip Lloyd*, billionaire and philanthropist, come to visit his grand-daughter. Obviously, Vlad snorted quietly to himself, the hospital was fawning over him in an attempt for donations.

Wait…billionaire philanthropist….

And that was when the idea came to him. It was genius, and yet incredibly simple in its concept. Brilliant, but also terrible. Vlad shrugged it off. Phillip was born rich, he reasoned to himself. It's not like he worked for it.*

And so, apprehension twisting in his stomach, Vlad willed himself invisible and walked through the wall. The two men who were talking—Phillip Lloyd and the owner of the hospital—had stopped only a few feet away. He took a deep breath and slipped closer, silently angling around behind Phillip. Nervously, he swallowed, trying to remember exactly how he had taken over the doctor. He meant to only barely touch Phillip, but tripped and fell intangibly into him. And suddenly, once again, he was in control of someone else.

He hadn't been certain exactly how to get the money he wanted, and eventually just had Phillip glimpse Vlad's name, feign recognition, listen sorrowfully to his story, and write a check to help him out. It wasn't a huge amount, when compared to how much Phillip had total it was almost nothing, but it was enough to pay for a much better college, all of Vlad's hospital bills that his insurance hadn't already, and still have a decent amount left over.

Dishonesty is the best policy…

He didn't really feel guilty, though he supposed he should. He figured life owed it to him. He'd had something terrible happen to him. All his friends were gone. And it wasn't like Lloyd couldn't afford it.

~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline

"He was right there. I should have seen him. I _did_ see him. I just didn't think about it. This is all my fault…"

"No, Jack. It was an accident. You didn't _mean _to hurt him, did you?"

"No! Never…"

"Then it wasn't your fault. But we've been terrible friends. We should visit him, Jack, it's been two months…"

"I know, I know, and you're right. It's just…I'm just so ashamed…what if he hates me?"

"No, Jack, he would never…come on, let's go this weekend."

~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline

"Vlad…Masters? Let's see…he was discharged two days ago. The address he left was for the college two blocks from here."

"What—are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm sorry, I can't help you."

"Well…thanks anyway."

~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline~Breakline

"We tried."

"Yes. I wish we could keep looking, but I really wouldn't know where to start…"

"The best we can do now is just go back to school. But we'll keep our eyes open, and if we hear anything we'll look into it."

"Okay, Jack."

"Uh…Mads…I mean, Maddie…I don't really know how to say this, but…thank you. You're so beautiful and amazing…I'm glad you're my friend."

"Jack…"

"And I don't know if you could ever love someone like me, but, um…would you be willing to try?"

"Jack! _Yes!_"

***I thought I made this name up, but it sounds very familiar…I think maybe I unconsciously took it from somewhere, but I don't know where. . So if this is actually the name of a famous person, I am very sorry, I promise I didn't do it on purpose. X(**

***Yes, yes, Vlad's flawed reasoning is flawed. I am quite aware of this, I do not need to be informed how hard rich people (who want to stay rich, anyway) work.**

**I hope this chapter wasn't too disjointed in the beginning…with the two short pieces, and then the much longer one, and then skip to Jack and Maddie…it just sort of happened. :P Also, I hope it was conveyed that Jack really did feel bad about what happened to Vlad. He was depressed about it, so much so that he was afraid to face Vlad, which was kinda stupid, but there you go. And Maddie stayed with him, and their bond grew stronger, and well you know what happens next.**

**Also—hopefully this is obvious, but just in case it's not—at this point in the story Vlad's ghost half hasn't yet manifested itself. That will be next chapter.**


End file.
